It's not always possible to take the time out of your day to handcraft the perfect grocery list. When you try to wing it at the store it almost always ends with a cart full of expensive groceries and half-baked meal ideas. Cooking blog The Kitchn suggests the best fix for this might be to keep a standby grocery list filled with meals you always enjoy.

The key to making this effective is to make sure all the meals work well together, they're cheap, healthy, and you enjoy eating them. For instance, if you're going to grab ingredients for burritos, you might also want to include quesadillas on your list to make use of the leftover ingredients. The second factor is that you have this list with you all the time. The Kitchn recommends laminating the list and keeping it in your wallet or checkbook. A document in your Dropbox or on your phone might work just as well. However you decide to do it, a standby list a good idea if you find yourself rushing around the store without a well-thought out list.